What's with Nova's ancestor Nikola Tesla?  As he still stirs up trouble from the grave.

The clip below makes his long story short:

The party from Nevada—Jack, Charlie, Frank, Bonita—arrived at Nova’s private lodge, a week before the wedding. And they all were given a whirlwind tour of the ranch.

When that was done, Reggie and Nova met Jack and Charlie at Peacemaker Chapel. The engaged couple paced it to get a measure of the place and inspect the venue.

The altar faced the Sapphire Mountains. Its large windows overlooked the Little Medicine Wheel. Beyond, the green meadows and snow in the mountains tussled for territory after spring.

It was chilly out. So they bundled up in fleece jackets. Though the sun in the clear sky warmed them up some.

“During spring and summer, Peacemaker Chapel is a favorite spot for weddings.” Nova pulled out the guest book. “And after Memorial Day, regular Sunday morning services start up here for the guests.”

Charlie walked to the altar and looked out the big picture window. “What’s the story about the Little Medicine Wheel?”

“Happy to tell you.” And Nova beckoned them outside to join her at its perimeter.

“Here,” Nova began, “Grandfather made a copy of the Medicine Wheel in the Bighorn Mountains. A giant wheel with spokes. Though many thought the original was aligned with the constellations and events—like solstices, equinoxes, other astrological stuff.”

“And I see,” Reggie looked about, “there’s no shortage of rocks on the ranch.”

Nova nodded. “So Grandfather gathered them up to make this big wheel. But instead of a buffalo skull at its center, he put a cross.”

“So your grandfather was a spiritual man then?” Jack asked.

“He was a Christian as well as a Medicine Man,” Nova said. “And he believed in the healing of the whole man…body, mind, and spirit. But only one man could do that. The One who died for our sins. Which was why Grandfather put a cross in the middle of the wheel.”

“That explains the plaque.” Reggie read the sign at the perimeter. It invited all to walk around the Little Medicine Wheel and say their prayers to the Great Physician in Heaven.

“Later,” Nova said, “I added Peacemaker Chapel below the Little Medicine Wheel. And when the Wild West Shows became a big tourist draw, the Chapel became a popular place for weddings and worship services.”

To the side of the Chapel, Charlie spied a barn, cordoned off with No Trespassing signs. Its boards and shingles were weathered gray. Wild flowers poked their heads out of the grasses about the fence and building.

“There must be a story about that old barn,” Charlie said.

“There is,” Nova said. “I was born there.”

The three looked puzzled, so she explained.

“My mother was a great lover of horses. One day—she was nine months pregnant at the time—she was tending to her favorite mare in that barn. But I couldn’t wait to come out. Fortunately, Kaya Stillwater was with her and helped bring me into the world. And I was wrapped up in a horse blanket and laid in the hay.”

Charlie smiled. “Like the baby Jesus.”

“You told me and Jacko about that last Christmas.” Reggie stepped alongside Nova. “When we were in the cave looking for water. Where we found the Admiral.”

“That was some Christmas,” Jack said. “Full moon rising in the Forbidden Area. The three of us with the Admiral’s dead body. Who left us one hell of present.”

“Like twenty million of them,” Reggie said. They all knew he was referring to the number of CyBytes on the microchip inside Admiral Quinn’s Navy ring.

Then Nova chuckled. “When I left the door open as a kid, the grown-ups would yell at me, Were you born in a barn? And I’d say, Yes, I really was. And they thought I was just being a smart ass.”

“Well, were you?” Reggie raised his eyebrows. And Nova answered with a playful swat.

“So your mother was an only child, Nova?” Charlie asked. “Like you.”

“No and no,” Nova said. “Don’t forget my half-brother Nick. My dad’s son. And Mother had two older brothers and twin sisters.”

The three looked surprised, so Nova explained.

Her mother’s twin sisters had died from measles as infants. As for her mother’s older brothers, they both had survived to adulthood. Then Uncle Gideon was killed in the Korean War. Uncle Malachi, a logger, was crushed by a big tree. A fatal workplace accident.

The boys had no children. Only Sunshine Rainmaker survived to produce a child. That was Nova.

“I was glad to have known my dad’s mother in Montana,” Nova said. “Yet I never knew Grandmother Rainmaker. Her maiden name was intriguing though. Myrna Mankiller.”

“There must be quite a story about that,” Jack piped up.

“There usually is,” Nova said. “In her day, you needed the permission of the tribal elders to select your Indian name. But this grandma passed away before I was born. So for now, it’s a mystery.”

from Part 9, Chapter 1: Sacred Space

More info: smithsk.com/cc.htm